Orbital exenteration: Symptoms, indications, tumour localizations, pathologies, reconstruction, complications and survival.

Objective: This study aims to evaluate malignant and benign diseases that lead to orbital exenteration.

Patients: From December 1999 to September 2017, patients undergoing orbital exenteration were included in this retrospective study. All of them were evaluated on clinical symptoms, indications, tumour localizations, pathologies, reconstruction techniques, complications, recurrences, and survival.

Results: Of the 205 patients enrolled in this study, 94 had a carcinoma, 73 melanoma, 9 a sarcoma, 14 some other malignant disease, and 15 a benign medical condition. Sixteen patients underwent reconstruction using a local eyelid skin flap (7.8%), 6 with a split-thickness graft (2.9%), 144 with a local flap (70.2%), and 25 with a microvascular graft (12.2%), whereas 14 patients did not undergo reconstruction (6.8%). The most common complications were wound dehiscences (25 cases), pain (17 cases), and partial flap necroses (13 cases). Moreover, 62% of the patients were treated with different facial prostheses or artificial eyes. Given these results, it appears that lymph nodes and distant metastases, as well as lymphatic invasion into vessels, perineural invasion, and non-cleared resection margins, seem to affect overall survival after orbital exenteration.

Conclusion: Different reconstruction techniques can be used to provide the patient with maximum functionality and aesthetics after orbital exenteration. Individual concepts should be discussed at the beginning of the treatment. Using primary reconstruction and providing osseointegrated implant-retained prostheses remain the gold standard.